Familiar Face
by shanfourteen
Summary: Just a little something for a character the show should absolutely bring back!


**Hey guys! Disclaimer: none of these characters are mine and are all rightfully the CBS'. Enjoy. :)) (and check out the a/n below)**

 **EDIT: (Also it seems that it didn't like this when I first posted it so I hope it works now!)**

Lying was something he was good at. Had been for a long time, even made a job out of it. Lying was something that put the bad guys in prison, something that made me him feel proud.

Except the one time it didn't. The first sure, he was responsible for a few bad guys going to prison. But the second one sure as hell hadn't happened without consequences. Pride became company for the knot tying itself over and over in his guts. The first few months had been tough, rehabilitation for all the things he'd lost after his injury but from then to now, three years after he'd died, had been tougher.

He hadn't known the team long, Granger was definitely his longest relationship in that department, but lying to them wore him down. He could still remember Kensi's face as she fought to stop the endless stream of blood pooling around his head, Deeks' hand on his arm as he shouted for help. He'd passed out after that but regained momentary consciousness when they'd taken him into surgery. Granger had been there, a sombre look on his face. He'd never imagined that that face would have been the last thing he'd ever see, since going into the surgery had to have been certain death, but some people didn't have a luxury of an anything so he'd just closed his eyes and let the darkness sing him to sleep.

Waking up had been a surprise, a pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless. "Nice to see you're awake, sleeping beauty," an amused voice said to his right.

He coughed, his throat scratchy as he fought to speak. "Just wanted to keep you waiting."

"I'm not surprised," Granger returned, offering a glass of water.

"Thanks," he said, the liquid gone within seconds. "Where are the others?"

Granger cleared his throat. "That's what I came to talk to you about."

"Apart from seeing if I made it?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in jest.

"When," Granger corrected, pulling out a file from a bag blocked by his inability to raise his head a few centimetres off the bed. His boss handed it to him.

"New mission?"

"I know you've only just woken up but it's better if you prepare for as long as you can. Wheels are up in a week."

"Wheels?" he repeated. "I'm going overseas?"

Granger nodded. "You are. It's a deep undercover operation. We're hoping to knock a few pawns off the chess board."

"Pawns? Why not go for the kings?"

Granger only smiled. "You've got to get rid of the pawns to get there, don't you?"

He rolled his eyes in return. "What about the current mission?"

"You don't have to worry about that, they've got it under control."

They had, but something about the way Granger was talking made him narrow his eyes. He was being more evasive than usual. "What aren't you telling me, boss?"

Granger was silent for a moment. "You can't let them know you're alive."

"What are you talking about?"

"Right now, it's better for everyone if they think you died."

He paused. He could understand why but he didn't want to. "Okay. Where's the mission?"

Granger pointed to the file now in the wounded's hands. "All you need to know is in there."

Three years he spent in Europe. Three years, knocking over pawn over pawn until he actually did get to the king. But, as he should have suspected, the queen's the strongest player on the chessboard and it never was about the king. The queen took a little longer than he would have liked but in the end, he'd won. The bad guys got put away and he disliked chess a lot more than he used to.

It's why his hands were shaking as he stood outside a bar Deeks had once claimed was the 'best in Venice'. Being himself wasn't something he'd been for a long time and now he was about to do something _normal_ in a not so normal situation. Granger had told him they'd be here, toasting to the solve of a difficult case. All of them. He shook his head, took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Laughter. It's the first thing he heard. It immediately put a smile on his face, and as he rounded the corner, there they all were. He hadn't known them for long, hadn't seen them for three years but they'd stayed the same. Although Kensi and Deeks were sitting a tad closer than Sam and Callen which didn't surprise him. In fact, the word _finally_ crossed his mind. Even Eric and Nell were there, a bench to themselves as the six of them sat around a table.

His hair was much longer and his beard much prominent but the look on Kensi's face as her eyes locked onto his said he still looked the same as ever.

She turned to Deeks but Deeks was already aware. The two of them stared him down as Kensi spoke his name.

" _Renko?_ "

 _(A/N: Hey! Thanks so much for reading. I actually wrote this a while ago, for a Tumblr thing, but completely forgot to post it. Hope you enjoyed and be sure to let me know! You guys are awesome.)_


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